Pedro del valle



(No Model.)

P. DEL VALLE.

PROCESS OF SEPARATING METALS.

No. 416,448. Patented Dec. 3, 1889.

ATTORNEY ETERS. "Moi-1W7, Washing! D. C.

I UNITED STATES PEDRO DEL VALLE,

- PATENT OFFICE.

OF MEXICO, MEXICO.

PROCESS OF 'SEPARATING METALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,448, dated December 3, 1889. Application filed May 16, 1889. Serial No. 311,020. (No model.) Patented in Mexico January 29, 1889.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PEDRO DEL VALLE, a citizen of the Mexican Republic, residing in the city of Mexico, the capital of said Republic, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Process of Separating Metals from Ores, (for which I have received a patent in. Mexico for ten years, dated J anuary 29, 1889;) and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing, forming part of this specification, which shows avertical section of an apparatus for carrying out myimpro'ved process.

The invention consists in a process of effect ing an intimate contact between the pulverized ore and mercury and separating the ore into grades of varying degrees of richness by causing an ascending stream of the ore to pass crosswise or laterally through a circulating stream of mercury, as will be hereinafter fully described.

X i'sa suitable tank, which is filled with a charge of mercury up to about the level indicated by the line a.

A B B'- 13 represent a pump or a machine of any kind adapted to inject the pulverized ore into the lower part of the mercury.

D E is a pump of any kind (here shown as a chain-pump) fitted to raise the mercury without intermission in a uniform and uninterrupted course, forming a constant and endless stream of the same through the apparatus.

G is an opening through which the particles of the pulverized ore, of less specific gravity than mercury when injected into it, will flow up through the lateral mercury streams, passing from the opening H to I, the ore stream crossing the mercury streams trans versely.

R is an. inclined partition on one side of the tank having several mercury-injecting openings H H H S is a partition on the other side having several mercury-outlets I I 1 J are several vertical plates arranged at, or nearly at, right angles to the course of the mercury stream, between openings H and I,

the plates dipping at their lower ends into the mercury.

K K K K are several compartments formed by the vertical plates J. Each of these compartments will have an overflow-outlet O for the discharge of the particles of ore gathered in same.

P is a horizontal pipe which conveys the mercury from thelift-pump to the openings H.

The direction of the circulation of the mercury is indicated by the arrows in full lines.

The direction of the course of the pulverized ore is indicated by the arrows in dotted lines 4 The crossed arrows show the direction taken by the amalgamated metal as it gravitates from the opening G. o

The operation is as follows: The apparatus will be placed in a pan and supplied with the required quantity of mercury. Through the pump D E the mercury will be circulated from the lower part to the top, then through pipe P down through openings H H H then laterally across to the openings I I I and is again taken up by the pump. By this means the endless lateral mercury stream is maintained between the openings H and I. The pulverized ore, wet or dry, after having been passed througha screen, will be injected into the lower part of the mercury by the pump A B, or by any other machine. The particles of metals and amalgams of greater'specific gravity than mercury will go down to the bottom of the mercury, following the direction marked by the crossed arrows. The remaining particles of the ore injected, being of less specific gravity than mercury, will fiow up from the opening G into the lower part of the lateral mercury stream, between openings H and I, and they will ascend through it to the upper surface of the mercury and be received into some of the compartments K, following some of the ascending ore streams, marked by dotted arrows. The ascending velocity of the powders or particles of the pulverized ore will be, according to the specific gravity of each of those particles, compared with the specific gravity of the mercury, and they will form several ascending streams of a different direction, determined by their relative specific gravities. Those particles of ore of a specific gravity of from two-thirds to near the same gravity of the mercury will ascend slowly through it and will form the ore stream going to the compartment K Those of onethird to two-thirds of the specific gravity of mercury will ascend less slowly and will form another of the ore streams going to the compartment K. Those of one-sixth to one-third of the specific gravity of mercury will ascend with some velocity and will form the stream going to the compartment K Those of less than one-sixth of the specilic gravity of the mercury will ascend with great velocity, and its particles will form another ore stream going to the compartment K. It will thus be seen that the lightest particles will be first brought into contact with the mercury streams issuing from holes H, While the heavier particles will successively be deflected by the mercury streams farther away from a vertical course, and thus be kept for a longer time in contact with the mercury.

The number and extentofi each one of the compartments K and the velocity of the lateral mercury stream between the openings 11 and I will be calculated according to the several constituents of the ore or material acted upon. The particles of ore of different specific gravity will be thus divided, according to the specific gravity of each of them, in the several compartments, and those of the same or similarspecific gravity will be collected in the same compartment. The substances collected in each one of the compartments will be discharged at 0 by the overflow, and the product of each compartment will be collected separately from the substances collected in the others.

The production of each of the UOlIlPd/l'lr ments will be assayed. Those proving useless will be rejected and the remaining re-collected, in order to be passed again through the apparatus or otherwise disposed of.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- I 1. The process herein described of separating metals, which consists in maintaining a circulating stream of mercury and project ing astream of pulverized ore transversely through the stream of mercury, substantially as described.

2. The process herein described of separat ing metals, which consists in passing a stream of pulverized ore transversely through a con,- t-inually-circulating stream of mercury and separating the rising ore streams into grades by their specific gravilies, substantially as described.

The process herein described of separating metals,which consists in injecting astream ot' pulverized ore into the lower part of a horizontally-movin g stream of mercury and separating the rising ore in to grades, substantially described. 7

PEDRO DEL YALLE.

\Vitnesses:

M. VICARIO DE LA Rivnno, YGNACIA DURAN. 

